The Battle of Alderaan

It was a dark time for the galaxy. Three centuries after the Hyperspace War, three-hundred years of hiding in the shadows, the Sith Empire had returned. They had taken back their homeworld Korriban and began to invade other systems along the Outer Rim, slowly getting closer to the core. The Galactic Republic were unaware of their return and were ambushed by a massive fleet in the Tingel Arm, coming down on them relentlessly and showing no mercy. The Sith destroyed their main starship manufacturing facility on Sluis Van and conquered the planet, leaving the republic to starve for spacecraft supplies. They took over several systems over the first three years of the war without any defeats, until the forces on Bothawui managed to fight for their lives and bring the battle to a draw. For the republic, it wasn’t about winning back then. It was about survival. All hope for the galaxy had seemed lost...

Fourteen years after the fall of Korriban, the empire had made it to the galaxy’s core, and their first target was an ideal one for the imperial advance, the heart of the Republic...the planet Alderaan...

Alderaan was a main world of which all the principles of the republic rested on, as well as one of the many Jedi temples across the galaxy. Not only would this be a key strategic position within the Core, the capture of the planet would be a crushing blow to the republic’s overall morale. After luring Alderaan’s Republic defence away from the world, the Sith Empire unleashed their attack, hoping for a swift victory. However, they were not aware of the sizeable garrison of troopers on the surface, since the planet was a resting stop for soldiers travelling from the Rim back to the Core. On the planet was the elite Havoc Squad along with other troops and several Jedi.

Alderaan was also home to the Grey Jedi Matthew Woodward, a former padawan who left the Jedi Order due to disagreements within their code. He lived near a mountain village with several other citizens. A calm spot where a lush forest and a stream of fresh water close by. He lived in a small cabin he built on his own, a place full of his fondest memories as a Jedi from when he was a child.

For a few years, he enjoyed being free. Not being ordered to do things, no more being told to control his emotions, no more rules of not growing attachments...but even though he was free from the Order and thought it would help him, it only made things worse. Throughout those three years since he left, he’d never felt so alone...

Matthew was taking a nap when the Empire arrived, cutting his sleep short. His ears perked up as he heard several screams outside his home, his senses overwhelmed with a great darkness in the force. Blasters began firing off in the woods nearby shortly after, followed by explosions.

“We’re under attack,” he thought to himself before grabbing his lightsaber on the table and rushing to the front door to see what was going on.

The sounds of the skirmish grew louder every second as he looked over to the forest while sneaking down the steps of his porch, trying to make as little noise as possible as he headed to the small cave by the side of his cabin. Once he reached inside, he turned back and saw a small group of civilians running out from behind the large rocks, the wolf calling out to them while waving his hand in the air. “In here!” He yelled as the citizens rushed over to the cave. Once they had made their way to him, the wolf switched to his last resort. “Get behind me,” ordered Matthew as they entered the mouth with frightened looks on all their faces.

He reached out with his hand and closed his eyes to concentrate with the force as hostile troops ran past the cave and towards his house, hearing the high-pitched sound of blaster fire in that direction. Matthew discovered an ability not many Jedi could do when he younger, which he thought could be useful in the right moment. He could mask himself from others so they couldn’t see he was actually there. All the troopers saw when they looked at his direction was just the cliff behind his house. He could hear a few small explosions in the background along with wood tumbling down on top of one another, until the bolts suddenly stopped.

“Targets down,” said one of the enemy troops.

“Excellent,” said a deep voice over an unfamiliar, low-humming sound of a lightsaber.

The wolf listened out for the several footsteps of the soldiers patrolling through the grass until he couldn’t hear them anymore. Once they were out of range of his hearing, he opened his eyes and lowered down his extended arm, cautiously walking outside and checking both sides to see if they had gone. Once the coast was clear, he turned back to the group and told them to run, the innocent people rushing past him towards the opposite direction of which the troops came from.

He turned to face where his home once was, only to fall to his knees once he saw it left in ruins with large flames burning the wood and his belongings; All of his photos from when he was kid, his comfy bed, all that hard work he put into his last sign of freedom, everything was destroyed. His mind became overflowed with a dark presence along with crippling depression...But after a moment, his mood changed as his blood began to boil. That sadness...had became anger...

He watched as the village off in the distance engulfed in flames, still hearing the haunting screams of innocent people. He had enough. With vengeance on his mind, Matthew got back on his feet and marched towards the forest nearby while reaching for the lightsaber attached to his belt, the sounds of blasters and explosions growing louder with every step in the snow. Once he had made it to the firefight, the wolf hid behind some large rocks to stay out of sight, watching as Republic troopers opened fire on the enemies who wore black and red armour, along with battle droids with canons for arms. Cloaked warriors with crimson-bladed lightsabers sprinted past the red bolts without hesitation, wiping out anybody in their path as they took the lead and headed towards the burning village. Just as he thought...the Sith had arrived.

Just below the cliff he was hiding on, a small group of the dark soldiers were jogging past, strafing and lobbing thermal detonators over to the republic troops, sending them flying into the air. There was no turning back now.

To stop them from doing any further damage, Matthew came out from behind the rocks and dropped down, ready to embrace impact on the ground below. He landed with full force right behind the group, causing the ground to shake around his area and lift the soldiers off their feet. He ignited his saber, and with a few quick swings, he took them out before they could even hit the earth. The high-pitched noise of the saber activating caught the attention of the acolytes and brought them towards his direction. Once they noticed the artic-blue blade, they staggered, surrounding the young wolf.

“Jedi!” Shouted one of the three from the sides and behind, preparing for a fight as they went into their combat stances.

“You’re done hurting this world!” Matthew yelled, keeping his blade pointed out to the side and remaining in his stance.

The masked Sith in front of him chuckled, confident they will destroy him, and the land he stood upon. “We will see about that...”

After the brief conversation, the front man ran in with the saber raised behind his back. Once he reached him, with one swift slice, Matthew brought the cocky acolyte to his knees while his teammates watched as he tumbled to the ground. He was NOT playing games.

The remaining three charged at him altogether with loud battle cries, getting into a sparring session with the lone wolf. He was agile, dodging and blocking the many cuts and slashes the trio attempted while he used swift and decisive strikes. After an intense moment between them, two of the Sith fell to the floor, now only one left as the lupine focused on him.

The one remaining Sith carried a double-bladed lightsaber, useful for throwing the enemy off during fights. He twirled his staff to intimidate the Grey Jedi, taunting him. Out of anger, Matthew ran to him with a forceful thrust of his saber and got into another duel, just between the two of them. Just as their blades clashed together, the tables had turned on the wolf and got a cut on his shoulder, causing him to fall back. Due to his lack of experience with fighting against a saberstaff, he was no match for the last acolyte. The warrior saw his anger turn to fear, and began cutting down at the young man. He tried to defend himself for as much as he possibly could, but would eventually get knocked back onto the ground beneath him.

He looked up at the dark acolyte with fear and concern as he stood over him, closing his eyes as he accepted his fate.

The low hum could be heard by him as the Sith raised the saber over his head, but the cut never came. Instead, Matthew heard incoming blaster fire from behind him, and still felt no cut. He opened his eyes to see his enemy fall to the ground, never seeing him stand up once again. Several Republic reinforcements came running into battle from behind him and overwhelming the fleet around him, eventually causing the surviving members of the imperial army to retreat off-world. Matthew stood back up and watched as the white-and-orange-armoured soldiers charge down the forest and obliterate every last droid and troop until they were all gone, exhaling from relief as he knew his home was now safe again.

For the first time in the fourteen years since the war started, the Republic had gained its first major victory, preventing Alderaan from falling under the control of the Sith Empire. However, thousands of lives were lost and cities across the planet were left in ruins. As much as he was glad they had won for the first time, Matthew wanted to do more about it.

From that day forward, he swore to help the Republic defend the galaxy from the Sith. He didn’t want any more planets to suffer the same fate as his home. So to keep from that happening, Matthew would do what he must, no matter what it took.

_______________________________

This is the first of MANY stories following Matthew’s journey set in the Star Wars universe. This is the introduction to Matthew and what kicks off his journey through the Great Galactic War. I really hope you guys enjoy these stories! I’ve worked SO hard on these, and I can say I’m very proud of what I’ve written.

Incredible art by Jailbird!